Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Political Life. A Content Analysis of Recent Literature (1997-2019)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.espo.n61a07Keywords:
Political Participation, Right to Vote, Persons with Disabilities, Electoral Assistance, EquityAbstract
The right of persons with disabilities to vote is well-codified in international human rights law. Disability scholars, however, argue that persons with disabilities are frequently denied the right to vote. What are the recurrent concepts used by disability scholars to discuss this issue? From a content literature review, four main concepts are regularly used by authors to elaborate on voting rights in the context of disability: “political participation,” “barriers,” “electoral practices” that support or constraint the full and effective exercise of the right to vote, and “electoral-assistive devices” as technology solutions to assist voters with disabilities. Discussing all these concepts is uncommon in other literature reviews. Findings illustrate that an abundance of publications focuses on political participation of persons with intellectual or mental impairments. Such publications tend to concentrate only on statutory barriers. Less prevalent is academic literature regarding persons with other impairments, as well as procedural barriers. Even more sparse are publications elaborating on social practices. Similarly, assistive technology is not often discussed as a tool for the facilitation of the right to vote of persons with disabilities.
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